Condiment package



April 1955 E. w. MASON 2,705,579

CONDIMENT PACKAGE Filed Aug. 5, 1952 FIG. 3

. INVENTOR. Edwin W. Mason g ll ORNEY United States Patent 0 CONDIMENTPACKAGE Edwin W. Mason, Wykoff, N. J., assignor to Mason- KellerCorporation, Roseland, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey ApplicationAugust 5, 1952, Serial No. 302,695

8 Claims. (Cl. 222-129) The present invention relates to a packagehaving two separate compartments, and more particularly to a packageconstituted of two webs of flexible sheet material sealed together toform two pockets, and provided with improved means for separatelyunsealing and opening the pockets for removal of the contents thereof.

The general object of the invention is to provide a novel, simple,inexpensive, and efficient package of the class described, and a methodof making the same.

The invention particularly contemplates a package of this class which,as a unit, may be employed for holding two separate granular condiments,such as salt and pepper; and novel means are provided herein wherebyeach pocket may be readily opened in such manner that a relatively smallpouring spout, or the equivalent, is

provided so that the package may be used as a miniature salt and peppershaker. Used in the manner described the package is especiallyconvenient in connection with the preparation and serving of boxedlunches and other individually preassembled meals and refreshments.

Generally the package is useful for condiments desired to form part ofpreassembled meals which are to be transported considerable distancesfrom the point of preparation of the meals in containers which are to bethrown away. The package, as a container for condiments, provides aconvenient and exceedingly lightweight and inexpensive adjunct forprepared rations designed to last throughout a relatively short periodonly; thus the pack age is a convenience for picnics, hunting andfishing trips, and other excursions where minimization of weight offoodstuffs to be carried by hand is desirable. Also the package isespecially suitable for carrying individual supplies of salt and pepperfor the meals of airplane passengers.

The package herein considered comprises two separate envelopes ofparticular construction, the envelopes being substantially within acommon plane and joined together edgewise. Actually both envelopes areformed in common by only two webs of material, one web be ing superposedon the other, and both webs being sealed together marginally and along atransverse band intermediate the ends of the webs for the purpose of providing two distinct pockets or compartments.

While the present package may be formed of two sheets of metallic foil,such as aluminum foil, or of a sheet of paper and a sheet of foil, or oftwo webs of plastic film, as desired, the desirability of the package ismaterially enhanced if at least one of the webs is of transparentmaterial so that separate condiments carried within the pockets may bedistinguished by eye. Also while the present package is well suited forcarrying small quantities each of salt and pepper, it will be understoodthat the package may also be used for other condiments, medicines, andother materials of a granular nature which are preferably dispensed insmall quantities at particular times. It will be plain that an advantageof the package for salt and pepper res1des 1n the fact that usually verylittle of these condiments is used during a single meal by an individualeater, and that the package may provide not only a durable conta ner forsmall quantities of these condiments for shlpplng and storage, as wellas an etficient shaker When properly opened, but may also bemanufactured at a cost so exceedingly small that it is quite economicalto throw the package away after use.

It is a particular feature of the invention that it provides a doublecompartmented package of the envelope class having two commodity pocketseach provided with a pouring spout, or the equivalent, extendingoutwardly from the pocket proper, preferably from a corner of the pockettoward a corner of the package, where the pockets and package aresubstantially of rectangular shape, as in the preferred form of theinvention illustrated herein. Means for opening the pockets maytherefore operate to unseal the spouts only, whereby the contents of thepockets may be emptied in a gradual and controlled manner, as salt andpepper, for" example, are commonly dispensed.

While the present invention need not be limited to a package ofrectangular shape having separate substantially rectangular pocketsaligned with the edges of the package, this design is advantageous, asit saves material and also renders the package easier to open. In adesign of this kind the spout of each pocket may be formed at one of thecorners thereof and extend outwardly toward, but not to, one of thecorners of the package. Thus when a particular corner of the package istorn off diagonally the spout of one of the pockets is thereby unsealed.In the form of the invention herein illustrated the package is sodesigned; and the pocket spouts are provided at diagonally oppositecorners of the package, and the package is perforated diagonally atthese two corners, the perforations passing through the pocket spouts,whereby an elfort to tear off a proper corner of the package results inthe removal of a triangular portion thereof of desired shape and size.

Another object of the invention is to provide a double compartmentedpackage comprising two separate envelopes joined edgewise, and formed oftwo webs, one web being substantially planar, and the other having itsmargin and a transverse band between the ends of the web within a commonplane, but with other areas drawn out of such common plane, whereby twoseparate depressions or pockets are formed on one side of the lastdescribed web. The package is constructed by sealing the first web tothe second with the first contacting only the margin and the transverseband of the second.

The package is most easily made by securely holding, as by clamps, thesecond web by its margin and by the above-described transverse band, andthen applying sulficient fluid pressure against the free areas of theweb to draw these areas out of plane with the margin and the transverseband, thus forming two separate depressions in the web. After thesedepressions have been suitably loaded with salt and pepper,respectively, or with other commodities, the first web may be appliedand sealed to the margin and transverse band of the second web, therebyproviding two sealed envelopes joined edgewise. The material of at leastthe second web is preferably cellulose acetate which, when preheatedslightly, can be drawn in the manner described and the formeddepressions will be permanent. Of course other plastic film may beemployed for the second web, as, for example, vinyl chloride. If thesecond web is transparent any of a variety of materials may be used forthe first web to produce a satisfactory package whose contents may beseen while the package is sealed.

These and other objects and features of the invention will be more fullyunderstood from the following description and from the drawing, in whichone form of the invention is illustrated.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a front view of the package.

Fig. 2 is a rear view of the package with part of one web broken away toshow the insides of the two pockets.

Fig. 3 is the section 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is the section 4-4 of Fig. l.

The package shown in the drawing is made of two webs 10 and 11 which aresealed together marginally and along a transverse band 12 intermediatethe ends of the package, thereby providing two separate sealed envelopesor pockets 13 and 14.

Although Fig. 1 is a front view of the finished package, showing Web 10overlaying web 11, in manufacturing the package web 10, originally aflat sheet, is first drawn by fluid pressure to form two permanentdepressions 15 and 16, as seen in Fig. 2, wherein part of web 11 isbroken away; and these depressions are next loaded with the commoditiesto be packaged; and then the package is completed by superposing web 11,invariably a flat sheet, over web 10, and sealing the webs together inthe manner described above. This operates to seal the depressions 15 and16 of web 10, thereby providing the two envelopes or pockets 13 and 14respectively. Plainly the formed portions of web 10 form one side'of theenvelopes and those portions of web 11 which bridge the depressions formthe other side thereof. As a convenience herein that side of the entirepackage on which web 10 is solely exposed is referred to as the'front,as the formed web is usually transparent while the flat web may beopaque material forming what may be regarded as a backing.

Neither web need, in fact, be of transparent material, although theusefulness of the package, as a salt and pepper shaker is clearly muchenhanced if at least one of the webs is transparent. Web 10 may be ofany sheet material which can be permanently drawn to form the suitabledepressions, and a preferred material is cellulose acetate film, whichis transparent, and when slightly preheated is well adapted to be drawnby means of fluid pressure, as that of compressed air. However, vinylchloride and other plastic films may be used, or a metallic foil, suchas that of aluminum, will serve. Web 11 may be paper, such as glassine.Of course both Webs are required to be of material suitably imperviousto atmosphere moisture.

Web 10 is formed by clamping the periphery and the area related to band12 of a fiat blank in a suitable manner and then applying pressureagainst the free portions of the blank. While the drawing operationcould be performed on a mechanical press having male and female dies, ithas been found much simpler to produce the web by means of the apparatusand method disclosed in the pending application of Arthur M. Keller forpatent for Packaging Machine and Method, filed March 18, 1948, andbearing Serial Number 15,695, wherein the principle of drawing andforming web material by fluid pressure is involved. In the Kellerapparatus the web is formed by drawing portions of it into suitablyshaped female die depressions; the fluid pressure is applied throughapertures within a blanket which is simul taneously forced into tightengagement with other portions of the web not desired to be deformed.Thus the blanket serves, in cooperation with the land of the die, as aclamp element, and simultaneously as a nozzle or group of nozzles forintroducing compressed air against the free area of the blank.

The form of the package shown in the drawing is that found preferablefor use as a salt and pepper shaker after the commodity envelopes orpockets have been opened. The package is rectangular and the pockets arenearly rectangular and have sides largely aligned with the edges of thepackage. Pocket 13 is intended for pepper while pocket 14 is suitablefor salt, the pockets having a size relationship roughly approximatingthe volume relationship of the two condiments in normal use forseasoning foods. Each pocket is provided with a pouring spout, that forpocket 13 being designated 17, and that for pocket 14 being designated18. It will be noted in Figs. 1 and 2 that the spouts extend fromcorners of their respective pockets, and that the spouts are directedtoward diagonally opposite corners of the package.

The spouts are formed by utilizing a female die having two separatedepressions each of a particular depth' and with a step in one corner ofeach depression diminishing said particular depth considerably, andhaving bays of such diminished depth extending outwardly diagonally fromthe corner, in the shape of the pockets shown. Figs. 3 and 4 clearlyindicate the shape of the required die and of the interior of theenvelopes or llaockets. Fig. 4 is an axial section of the spout ofpocket The two diagonally opposite corners of the package at which thespouts are situated may be diagonally scored or perforated, as at 19 and20, the score or perforations passing through the necks of the twospouts, as shown in the drawing, to facilitate the accurate tearing awayof the corners of the package for the purpose of opening the spouts onlywithout destroying the pockets as containers. It is seen that byunsealing the pockets by means of opening merely the spouts thereof thecondiments may be shaken out in a controlled manner. Further it is seen,as best illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, that when the unsealed package isheld in position so that pepper may escape from pocket 13 by gravity,salt cannot escape from pocket 14; and that when the unsealed package isrotated so that salt may be dispensed, the pepper cannot escape.

The rate of discharge of either condiment possible when the package issuitably positioned after being unsealed may be fairly accuratelypredetermined by the shape of that portion of the die employed informing the spouts. These, of course, may be large or small as desired,as may the package itself. As an example of size of a practicablepackage according to the invention, test packages intended forindividual use during a single meal were found to be satisfactorilycapacious where the pockets had the size relationship to each otherindicated in the drawing, and where the length of the package was abouttwo inches.

I claim:

1. A package comprising a first web of soft, pliable material drawn toprovide two separate depressions therein, the web material forming saiddepressions being undistorted each depression having a relatively largebody and a relatively narrow bay shallower than said body, and each bayextending substantially oppositely to the other bay toward the peripheryof said web; another and substantially planar web of soft, pliablematerial sealed to said first web at areas surrounding said depressionsand said bays and covering and closing said depressions and said bays;one of said webs being of a transparent material, said package beingscored near its periphery across said bays whereby fragments ofpredetermined shape and size may be torn from said package for openingsaid bays.

2. The package of claim 1 wherein the first web is of cellulose acetate.

3. The package of claim 1 wherein the first web is of vinyl chloride.

4. The package of claim 1 wherein the first web is of sheet materialwhich may be deformed permanently by drawing.

5. A package comprising a rectangle of soft, pliable sheet materialdrawn to provide two separate and substantially rectangular depressionstherein the web material forming said depressions being undistorted,each depression having a relatively shallow and narrow bay extendingtoward one of two diagonally opposite corners of said rectangle; anotherrectangle of soft, pliable sheet material sealed to said first-namedrectangle at areas thereof surrounding said depressions; said otherrectangle covering and closing said depressions; said package beingscored diagonally across said opposite corners and across said bayswhereby fragments of predetermined shape and size may be torn from saidpackage for opening said depressions at the bays thereof.

6. The package of claim 5 wherein the first-named rectangle is oftransparent plastic film.

7. The package of claim 5 wherein the first-named rectangle is of sheetmaterial which may be deformed permanently by drawing, and wherein atleast one of said rectangles is transparent.

8. A package comprising two rectangular webs of soft, pliable sheetmaterial, one thereof being fiat and the other being also flat exceptfor two separate concavo-convex portions side by side on the last-namedweb, said portions each having a body from which a neck extends toward acorner of said package, each neck extending toward a comer diagonallyopposite from that related to the other neck, said portions beingcompletely surrounded by flat areas sealed to the first-named webwhereby two separate envelopes are formed at said portions, said packagebeing scored at diagonally opposite corners across said necks wherebyfragments of predetermined size may be torn from said package foropening said necks.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,438,487 Greene Dec. 12, 1922 1,576,088 Bunz Mar. 9, 1926 2,103,389Salfisberg Dec. 28, 1937 2,561,400 Morrell July 24, 1951 2,578,444Nicolle Dec. 11, 1951

